Light shielding device and light shielding method

ABSTRACT

Provided is a light shielding device including a light shielding wall configured to include a plurality of panels, the light shielding wall being used as a partition of a first space and a second space, the plurality of panels being controllable in either a light transmission state in which light is transmitted or a light shielding state in which light is shielded, an optical path specifying unit configured to specify a predetermined optical path to be passed through the light shielding wall, a panel specifying unit configured to specify a panel on the light shielding wall, the panel being corresponded to a position at which the predetermined optical path specified by the optical path specifying unit passes through the light shielding wall, and a controller configured to control a light transmission state or a light shielding state for the plurality of panels on the light shielding wall.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/405,206, filed Dec. 3, 2014, which is a NationalStage of PCT/JP2013/068322, filed Jul. 4, 2013, and claims priority toJapanese Patent Application No. 2012-156189 filed on Jul. 12, 2012, theentire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present technology relates to a light shielding device, a lightshielding method, and a program, and more particularly to a lightshielding device, light shielding method, and program, capable of hidingwhat is intended to be hidden and displaying intelligibly what is notdesired to be viewed.

BACKGROUND ART

The technique for using an electronic blind that may be switched betweena light transmission state and a light shielding state has been reported(see Patent Literature 1).

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

Patent Literature 1: JP 4031506B

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

However, when an electronic blind as disclosed in Patent Literature 1 isused, a wall or window is caused to be in a light transmission orshielding state as a whole. Thus if it is controlled to be in a lightshielding state, then an area in which light is shielded as a whole mayinevitably be in a state of being enclosed.

In addition, for example, a light shielding region is provided only atthe line of sight of a walking person in a wall for partitioning aconference room and a corridor, and thus it is possible to relieve thestate of being enclosed while blocking it from being viewed by a personwho is walking along a corridor.

However, even so, it should be appreciated that a person present in theconference room is unable to look out through the range that is set as aregion in which light is shielded.

The present technology is made in view of such circumstances, inparticular, it is designed to hide what is intended to be in a stateinvisible to other people and to show what is desired to be viewed.

Solution to Problem

According to an aspect of the present technology, there is provided alight shielding device including a light shielding wall configured toinclude a plurality of panels, the light shielding wall being used as apartition of a first space and a second space, the plurality of panelsbeing controllable in either a light transmission state in which lightis transmitted or a light shielding state in which light is shielded, anoptical path specifying unit configured to specify a predeterminedoptical path to be passed through the light shielding wall, a panelspecifying unit configured to specify a panel on the light shieldingwall, the panel being corresponded to a position at which thepredetermined optical path specified by the optical path specifying unitpasses through the light shielding wall, and a controller configured tocontrol a light transmission state or a light shielding state for theplurality of panels on the light shielding wall based on informationabout a panel specified by the panel specifying unit.

The light shielding device may further include a start positionspecifying unit configured to specify a start position in the firstspace from which the predetermined optical path passes through the lightshielding wall, and an end position specifying unit configured tospecify an end position in the second space at which the predeterminedoptical path has passed through the light shielding wall. The opticalspecifying unit may specify the predetermined optical path based oninformation about the start position specified by the start positionspecifying unit and the end position specified by the end positionspecifying unit.

The light shielding device may include a first image capturing unitconfigured to capture an image of the first space, and a second imagecapturing unit configured to capture an image of the second space. Thestart position specifying unit may specify the start position in thefirst space from which the predetermined optical path passes through thelight shielding wall based on the image captured by the first imagecapturing unit. The end position specifying unit may specify the endposition in the second space at which the predetermined optical path haspassed through the light shielding wall based on the image captured bythe second image capturing unit.

The start position may be a position of eyes of a person in the firstspace and the end position may be a position of a target which is notintended to be viewed by a person in the second space. The controllermay control a panel specified by the panel specifying unit to be in thelight shielding state and controls other panels to be in the lighttransmission state.

The target which is not intended to be viewed by a person in the secondspace may include a predetermined object or a prescribed portion of apredetermined person, the predetermined object or the predeterminedperson being present in the second space.

The prescribed portion of the predetermined person may include a face,eyes, or a whole body of the predetermined person.

The start position may be a position of eyes of a person in the firstspace and the end position may be a position of a product which isintended to be viewed by the person in the second space. The controllermay control a panel specified by the panel specifying unit to be in thelight transmission state and controls other panels to be in the lightshielding state.

The light shielding device may further include a sex determination unitconfigured to determine sex of a person in the first space, and a targetsex determination unit configured to determine target sex that is sex ofa person as a target for a product in the second space. The startposition may be a position of eyes of a person in the first space andthe end position may be a position of a product in which sex of theperson corresponds with target sex of the product from among productswhich are intended to be viewed by the person in the second space.

The start position may be a position of a target which is not intendedto be exposed to direct sunlight in the first space and the end positionmay be a position of a light source of sunlight from the second space.The optical path specifying unit, when a light source of thepredetermined optical path is sunlight, may regard the sunlight asparallel light rays and may specify the predetermined optical path,based on information about a direction of a predetermined optical pathusing the sunlight as a light source and the start position. Thecontroller may control a panel specified by the panel specifying unit tobe in the light transmission state and may control other panels to be inthe light shielding state.

The light shielding device may further include a projection unitconfigured to project an image onto a panel controlled to be in thelight shielding state, the projection being performed for each of thepanels.

The projection unit may project an image including a message onto thepanel controlled to be in the light shielding state, the projectionbeing performed for each of the panels.

The light shielding device may further include a third image capturingunit configured to capture an image when each panel of the lightshielding wall is in the light transmission state in the first space,and an interpolated image generation unit configured to generate aninterpolated image of a panel controlled to be in a light shieldingstate by the controller based on an image captured by the third imagecapturing unit. The projection unit may project the interpolated imageonto the panel controlled to be in the light shielding state, theprojection being performed for each of the panels.

The optical path specifying unit may specify a plurality ofpredetermined optical paths to be passed through the light shieldingwall. The panel specifying unit may specify a plurality of panels on thelight shielding wall, the plurality of panels being corresponded topositions at which the plurality of predetermined optical paths passthrough the light shielding wall. The controller may control a lighttransmission state or a light shielding state for the plurality ofpanels on the light shielding wall based on information about a panelspecified by the panel specifying unit.

According to an aspect of the present technology, there is provided amethod for shielding light in a light shielding device provided with alight shielding wall configured to be used as a partition of a firstspace and a second space and configured to include a plurality of panelscontrollable in either a light transmission state in which light istransmitted or a light shielding state in which light is shielded, themethod comprising the steps of performing an optical path specifyingprocess of specifying a predetermined optical path to be passed throughthe light shielding wall, performing a panel specifying process ofspecifying a panel on the light shielding wall, the panel beingcorresponded to a position at which the predetermined optical pathspecified by performing the optical path specifying process passesthrough the light shielding wall, and performing a control process ofcontrolling a light transmission state or a light shielding state forthe plurality of panels on the light shielding wall based on informationabout a panel specified by performing the panel specifying process.

According to an aspect of the present technology, there is provided aprogram for causing a computer, which controls a light shielding deviceprovided with a light shielding wall configured to be used as apartition of a first space and a second space and configured to includea plurality of panels controllable in either a light transmission statein which light is transmitted or a light shielding state in which lightis shielded, to execute the processing of an optical path specifyingstep of specifying a predetermined optical path to be passed through thelight shielding wall, a panel specifying step of specifying a panel onthe light shielding wall, the panel being corresponded to a position atwhich the predetermined optical path specified by performing a processof the optical path specifying step passes through the light shieldingwall, and a control step of controlling a light transmission state or alight shielding state for the plurality of panels on the light shieldingwall based on information about a panel specified by performing aprocess of the panel specifying step.

In an aspect of the present technology, a predetermined optical path isspecified so that the optical path passes through a light shielding wallwhich is used as a partition of a first space and a second space and isconfigured to include a plurality of panels capable of being controlledto be in either a light transmission state in which light is transmittedor a light shielding state in which light is shielded, a panel on thelight shielding wall which corresponds to a position at which thespecified predetermined optical path passes through the light shieldingwall is specified, and the plurality of panels on the light shieldingwall are controlled to be in either the light transmission state or thelight shielding state based on information about the specified panel.

A light shielding device according to the present technology may be aseparate device, or may be a block that performs a light shieldingprocess.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to an aspect of the present technology, it is possible toallow what is desired to be hidden in a way that is not viewed to beinvisible and allow what is desired to be viewed to be visible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration according toa first embodiment of a light shielding device to which the presenttechnology is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of a lightshielding wall of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a light shielding state and a lighttransmission state of a panel on the light shielding wall.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of acontroller of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for describing a light shielding wall controlprocess performed by a controller of FIG. 1, when the light shieldingwall is used as a partition of two spaces, which allows a predeterminedobject present in one space to be invisible to a person present in theother space.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for describing an example in which, when the lightshielding wall is used as a partition of two spaces, a person present inone space and a person present in the other space are prevented frommaking eye contact with each other.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for describing an example in which, when the lightshielding wall is used as a partition of two spaces, an object presentin one space is prevented from being exposed to direct sunlight.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for describing an example in which, when the lightshielding wall is used as a partition of two spaces, an object presentin one space is prevented from being exposed to direct sunlight.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration according toa second embodiment of a light shielding device to which the presenttechnology is applied.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of acontroller of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for describing a light shielding wall controlprocess performed by a controller of FIG. 9, when the light shieldingwall is used as a partition of two spaces, which allows an objectcorresponding to the sex present in one space to be visible in keepingwith the sex of a person present in the other space.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration accordingto a first embodiment of a light shielding device to which the presenttechnology is applied.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of acontroller of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for describing a light shielding wall controlprocess performed by a controller of FIG. 12, when the light shieldingwall is used as a partition of two spaces, which allows a message to beprojected onto a panel controlled to be in a light shielding state.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration accordingto a first embodiment of a light shielding device to which the presenttechnology is applied.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of acontroller of FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a diagram for describing a light shielding wall controlprocess performed by a controller of FIG. 16, when the light shieldingwall is used as a partition of two spaces, which allows an imagegenerated based on an image controlled to be in a light transmissionstate to be projected onto a panel controlled to be in a light shieldingstate.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for describing an exemplary configuration of ageneral-purpose personal computer.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiments for carrying out the invention (hereinafter,referred to as embodiment) will be described below. The description ismade in the following order.

1. First Embodiment (example of allowing what is not desired to beviewed to be invisible)

2. Second Embodiment (example of allowing what is desired to be viewedto be visible to a person who is supposed to view)

3. Third Embodiment (example of displaying message on light shieldingregion)

4. Fourth Embodiment (example of displaying interpolation image based onadjacent image on light shielding region)

1. First Embodiment Exemplary Configuration According to FirstEmbodiment of Light Shielding Device

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary configuration according to a firstembodiment of a light shielding device to which the present technologyis applied. The light shielding device of FIG. 1 includes a lightshielding wall 11, which is used as a partition of a first space on theleft side in the figure and a second space on the right side in thefigure and is configured to include a plurality of panels 21 capable ofbeing controlled to be in two states of a light shielding state and alight transmission state, and thus the light shielding device controlsonly a panel 21 of a region at which is able to view directly an objectB1 present in the first space from the point of views of persons H1 andH2 present in the second space to be in the light shielding state, andcontrols a panel 21 of the other regions to be in the light transmissionstate. In other words, the light shielding device of FIG. 1 is designedto allow what is not desired to be viewed to be invisible.

More specifically, the light shielding device of FIG. 1 is configured toinclude the light shielding wall 11, cameras 12-1 and 12-2, and acontroller 13. The light shielding wall 11 is used as a partition of thefirst space shown on the left side in the figure and the second spaceshown on right side in the figure. As illustrated in FIG. 1, there ispresent in the first space an object B1 that is not desired to be viewed(it is desired to hide in a state of being invisible) by the persons H1and H2 who are present in the second space. On the other hand, thesecond space is a space in which a person (for example, person H1, H2 orthe like) can freely move.

The light shielding wall 11 is configured to include, for example, aplurality of panels 21, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The panel 21 is, forexample, a liquid crystal panel having a size of approximately 10 cm×10cm and is controlled to be in either a light shielding state or a lighttransmission state by the controller 13. The panel 21 is not limited toa size of approximately 10 cm×10 cm, and the panel 21 may be smaller orlarger than the size. In addition, FIG. 2 illustrates the panel 21having an exemplary rectangular shape, but the panel may have anon-rectangular shape and other shapes. In addition, the panel 21 may becomposed of those other than a liquid crystal panel as long as it can becontrolled to be in either a light shielding state or a lighttransmission state.

When the panel 21 is in a light shielding state, if a person looks atthe panel 21 with the naked eyes, the panel 21 is in a state where anobject on the opposite side of the panel 21 is unable to be recognized(viewed). In addition, when the panel 21 is in a light transmissionstate, if a person looks at the panel 21 with the naked eyes, then thepanel 21 is in a state where an object on the opposite side of the panel21 is able to be recognized (viewed). In FIG. 2, a panel 21 which is ina light transmission state is denoted by “panel 21”, and a panel 21which is in a light shielding state is denoted by “panel 21”.

More specifically, when the light shielding wall 11 is place on thefront side and a conference room is present behind the light shieldingwall 11, if the panel 21 is controlled to be in a light shielding state,the panel 21 is in a state where the inside of the conference room isinvisible (state that is unable to be visually recognized) as shown in aregion W1 surrounded by the dotted line in FIG. 2. In addition, as shownin regions other than the region W1, if the panels 21 are controlled tobe in a light transmission state, the panels 21 are in a state where theinside of the conference room is visible (state that is able to bevisually recognized).

The cameras 12-1 and 12-2 capture an image of the first and secondspaces described above, respectively, and supply the captured image tothe controller 13. In this case, the cameras 12-1 and 12-2 capture animage including data on the distance from the cameras 12-1 and 12-2 in aspace in an image of a captured subject for each pixel while capturingthe image. In other words, the cameras 12-1 and 12-2 have a camerafunction referred to as so-called depth camera. Thus, the image capturedby the cameras 12-1 and 12-2 includes information on the distance fromthe cameras 12-1 and 12-2 to the subject in units of pixel in additionto a normal image. In the following description, the information on thedistance in units of pixel is referred to as distance image. Thus, thecameras 12-1 and 12-2 generate a distance image as well as capture anormal image, and then supply it to the controller 13.

The controller 13 acquires the image of the first space and the image ofthe second space supplied respectively from the cameras 12-1 and 12-2.The controller 13 recognizes the position of the object B1 in the firstspace based on the image of the first space and information about theinstallation position and orientation of the camera 12-1. In addition,the controller 13 specifies the positions E1 and E2 of the eyes of therespective persons H1 and H2 by which the object B1 is not desired to beviewed based on the image of the second space and information about theinstallation position and direction of the camera 12-2. Furthermore, thecontroller 13 obtains optical paths L1 and L2 extending from thepositions E1 and E2 of the eyes of the respective persons H1 and H2 bywhich the object B1 is not desired to be viewed to the object B1, whichare also referred to as a path of the line of sight when viewing theobject B1 from the positions E1 and E2 of the eyes of the respectivepersons H1 and H2 by which the object B1 is not desired to be viewed.

Moreover, the controller 13 controls a panel 21 including anintersection point with the optical paths L1 and L2 among the panels 21on the light shielding wall 11 to be in a light shielding state andcontrols other panels 21 to be in a light transmission state. Thiscontrol enables the second space to be brighter and maintained as thespace with a sense of openness while maintaining the state where B1present in the first space is invisible to the persons H1 and H2 presentin the second space. In other words, in the light transmission state,for example, a room on the other side of the light shielding wall 11 isable to be viewed over the light shielding wall 11 as shown in the leftportion of FIG. 3. On the other hand, as shown in the region W1 in theleft portion of FIG. 3, in the light shielding state, the inside of theroom on the other side of the light shielding wall 11 is unable to beviewed.

In FIG. 1, although the optical path is represented as the line of sightwhen the eyes E1 and E2 of the respective persons H1 and H2 are assumedto be a point of view, the optical path may be represented as a pathalong which light is transmitted through the light shielding wall 11 orlight is shielded by the light shielding wall 11. Thus, the optical pathmay not necessarily indicate the line of sight, but for example, theoptical path may be referred to as an optical path indicating a path ofthe rays of the sun as a light source. In the following description, thepath of light which transmits through the light shielding wall 11 wheneach panel 21 on the light shielding wall 11 is controlled to be in alight transmission state is collectively referred to as optical path.

Exemplary Configuration of Implementation of Controller of FIG. 1

Subsequently, referring to the block diagram of FIG. 4, there will bedescribed an exemplary configuration of the controller 13 in a lightshielding device of FIG. 1, which allows what is not desired to beviewed to be invisible.

The controller 13 is configured to include image acquisition units 51-1and 51-2, an optical path start position measurement unit 52, an opticalpath end position measurement unit 53, an optical path calculation unit54, a wall transmission position calculation unit 55, a light shieldingposition specifying and storing unit 56, and a light shielding controlunit 57.

The image acquisition unit 51-1 acquires an image of the first space anda distance image that are supplied from the camera 12-1, and the imageacquisition unit 51-2 acquires an image of the second space and adistance image that are supplied from the camera 12-2. The imageacquisition units 51-1 and 51-2 supply an acquired image to the opticalpath end position measurement unit 53 and the optical path startposition measurement unit 52, respectively.

The optical path start position measurement unit 52 measures a startpoint of the optical path in the second space supplied from the imageacquisition unit 51-2, that is, measures the position of eyes E1 and E2of the respective persons H1 and H2 in the second space as a start pointof each of the optical paths L1 and L2, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Morespecifically, the optical path start position measurement unit 52detects the position of the persons H1 and H2 by using a facial imagedetection process, extracts an organ such as eyes, nose, mouth, and earsfrom a facial image of the detected person by using an organ extractionprocess, and measures an optical path start position in association withthe position of the camera 12-2 from distance information on thedistance image corresponding to a pixel indicating the position of eyesfrom among extracted organs. Then, the optical path start positionmeasurement unit 52 supplies information about the measured optical pathstart position to the optical path calculation unit 54.

The optical path end position measurement unit 53 measures an end pointof the optical path in the first space supplied from the imageacquisition unit 51-1, that is, measures the position of the object B1in the first space as an end point of each of the optical paths L1 andL2, as illustrated in FIG. 1. More specifically, the optical path endposition measurement unit 53 searches the object B1 in the image basedon, for example, the previously inputted information such as a shape orcolor used to specify the object B1 which is intended to be invisible tothe persons H1 and H2 or the like. Then, the optical path end positionmeasurement unit 53 specifies an optical path end position inassociation with the position of the camera 12-1 from distanceinformation on the distance image corresponding to a pixel in theposition of the searched object B1.

The optical path calculation unit 54 calculates an optical path based oninformation about the optical path start position supplied from theoptical path start position measurement unit 52 and information aboutthe optical path end position supplied from the optical path endposition measurement unit 53, and the optical path calculation unit 54supplies information about the calculated optical path to the walltransmission position calculation unit 55.

The wall transmission position calculation unit 55 calculates, as thewall transmission position, a position on the light shielding wall 11through which the optical path passes, based on the information aboutthe optical path supplied from the optical path calculation unit 54.

The light shielding position specifying and storing unit 56 specifiesand stores the position of a panel 21 through which the optical pathpasses from among the panels 21 constituting the light shielding wall 11based on the information about the wall transmission position on thelight shielding wall 11. More specifically, the light shielding positionspecifying and storing unit 56 specifies and stores a panel 21 thatcorresponds to the coordinates of the wall transmission position basedon the wall transmission position information.

The light shielding control unit 57 controls each of the panels 21 onthe light shielding wall 11 to be in either a light shielding state or alight transmission state based on information about a panel 21 necessaryto be light-shielded, which is stored in the light shielding positionspecifying and storing unit 56.

Process of Controlling Light Shielding Wall by Controller of FIG. 4

Subsequently, referring to the flowchart of FIG. 5, a process ofcontrolling the light shielding wall 11 by the controller 13 of FIG. 4will be described. Each of the panels 21 on the light shielding wall 11is controlled to be in the light transmission state by default, but itmay be controlled to be in the light shielding state.

In step S11, the camera 12-2 captures an image in the direction that isa start point of an optical path in the second space and supplies thecaptured image and a distance image to the image acquisition unit 51-2.

In step S12, the camera 12-1 captures an image in the direction that isan end point of an optical path in the first space and supplies thecaptured image and a distance image to the image acquisition unit 51-1.

In step S13, the image acquisition unit 51-2 acquires the captured imageand the distance image supplied from the camera 12-2 and supplies theacquired image to the optical path start position measurement unit 52.

In step S14, the image acquisition unit 51-1 acquires the captured imageand the distance image supplied from the camera 12-1 and supplies theacquired image to the optical path end position measurement unit 53.

In step S15, the optical path start position measurement unit 52determines whether there is a person that constitutes an optical pathstart point based on the supplied captured image and distance image, andthe optical path end position measurement unit 53 determines whetherthere is an object that constitutes an optical path end point based onthe supplied captured image and distance image. In other words, theoptical path start position measurement unit 52 determines whether thereis a person constituting the optical path start point based on whether afacial image is detected by performing a facial detection process basedon the image in the second space. In addition, the optical path endposition measurement unit 53 searches an object B1 based on informationthat is inputted as information about the specification of the object B1based on the image in the first space, and determines whether there isan object constituting the optical path end point based on whether theobject B1 is searched. In step S15, if an object and a personconstituting the optical path start point and the optical path endpoint, respectively, are not detected and they are not included in theimage, then the process returns to step S11.

In other words, for example, if an object B1 is not searched in thefirst space, then there is nothing to be hidden and made invisible to aperson H1 or H2, thus all the panels 21 of the light shielding wall 11can be remained to be controlled in the light transmission state,accordingly the subsequent steps are not necessary to perform and theprocess returns to its original state of step S11. In addition,similarly, if a person H1 or H2 is not searched in the second space,then there is no person H1 or H2 even if an object B1 is present, thusall the panels 21 of the light shielding wall 11 can be still remainedto be controlled in the light transmission state, accordingly thesubsequent steps are not necessary to perform and the process returns toits original state of step S11. As a result, the process of steps S11 toS15 is repeated until the object B1 and the person H1 or H2 are bothcaptured by the camera 12-1 and 12-2, respectively.

In step S15, for example, if the object B1 and the person H1 or H2 aresearched, the process proceeds to step S16.

In step S16, the optical path start position measurement unit 52specifies the position of the person H1 or H2 by using a facial imagedetection process. Furthermore, the optical path start positionmeasurement unit 52 extracts an organ such as eyes, nose, mouth, andears from an facial image of the detected person by using an organextraction process, and measures an optical path start position inassociation with the position of the camera 12-2 from distanceinformation on the distance image corresponding to a pixel indicatingthe position of eyes from among extracted organs. Then, the optical pathstart position measurement unit 52 supplies information about themeasured optical path start position to the optical path calculationunit 54.

In step S17, the optical path end position measurement unit 53 specifiesan optical path end position in association with the position of thecamera 12-1 from the distance information on the distance image thatcorresponds to a pixel in the position of the searched object B1. Aslong as the object B1 has such a size that there is no problem when theobject B1 is considered to be a dot shape, the end point may be onepoint or several points in the vicinity of the point, and for example,if it has a large surface area, then a plurality of end points may beset as a whole. In this case, the optical path end position measurementunit 53 supplies all the information about the plurality of measuredoptical path end positions to the optical path calculation unit 54.

In step S18, the optical path calculation unit 54 calculates an opticalpath based on the information about the optical path start positionsupplied from the optical path start position measurement unit 52 andthe information about the optical path end position supplied from theoptical path end position measurement unit 53, and the optical pathcalculation unit 54 supplies information about the calculated opticalpath to the wall transmission position calculation unit 55. As describedabove, in some cases, a plurality of optical path end positions may beobtained depending on the size of the object B1, and thus a plurality ofoptical paths may be obtained as well. In this case, the optical pathcalculation unit 54 supplies all the information about the plurality ofoptical paths to the wall transmission position calculation unit 55.

In step S19, the wall transmission position calculation unit 55calculates a position on the light shielding wall 11 through which theoptical path passes based on the information about the optical pathsupplied from the optical path calculation unit 54. In other words, theoptical path can be considered as a vector that is specified by thestart point and the end point, and the light shielding wall 11 can beconsidered to be a plane. Thus, the wall transmission positioncalculation unit 55 obtains a wall transmission position, which is anintersection point of a straight line specified by the vectorcorresponding to each optical path and a plane constituting the lightshielding wall 11, as coordinate information indicating a position onthe light shielding wall 11, and then the wall transmission positioncalculation unit 55 supplies the coordinate information indicating theposition on the light shielding wall 11 that is the obtained walltransmission position to the light shielding position specifying andstoring unit 56. In other words, in the case of FIG. 1, the walltransmission position is a position X1 for the optical path L1 andsimilarly a position X2 for the optical path L2.

In step S20, the light shielding position specifying and storing unit 56specifies and stores the position of a panel 21 corresponding to thewall transmission position of the optical path from among the panels 21constituting the light shielding wall 11 based on information about thewall transmission position on the light shielding wall 11. Morespecifically, the light shielding position specifying and storing unit56 specifies a panel 21 to which the coordinates of the walltransmission position belong based on the wall transmission positioninformation. In other words, in the case of FIG. 1, the panel 21 towhich the wall transmission position X1 belongs is a panel 21′-A.Similarly, the panel 21 to which the wall transmission position X2belongs is a panel 21′-B. Furthermore, in the case of FIG. 1, in theoptical path L2 that is the line of sight of the person H2, the walltransmission position is located at the left end of the panel 21′-B, andif a panel adjacent thereto is not light-shielded, then the object B1may be visible, thus a panel 21′-C is regarded as a panel that isnecessary to be light-shielded. In other words, the light shieldingposition specifying and storing unit 56 regards not only a panel towhich the wall transmission position belongs but also a panel 21adjacent thereto if necessary as a panel 21 that is necessary to belight-shielded, and stores these panels.

In step S21, the light shielding control unit 57 sets an unprocessedpanel 21 from among the panels 21 on the light shielding wall 11 as apanel to be processed.

In step S22, the light shielding control unit 57 determines whether apanel to be processed is a panel 21 that belongs to the walltransmission position based on the light shielding position informationthat is stored in the light shielding position specifying and storingunit 56. For example, in step S22, if the panel 21 to be processed is apanel 21 that belongs to the wall transmission position or a panel 21adjacent thereto, then in step S23, the light shielding control unit 57controls so that the panel 21 to be processed may be in a lightshielding state. On the other hand, in step S22, if the panel 21 to beprocessed is not a panel 21 that belongs to the wall transmissionposition, then in step S24, the light shielding control unit 57 controlsso that the panel 21 to be processed may be in a light transmissionstate.

In step S25, the light shielding control unit 57 determines whetherthere is an unprocessed panel 21, and if it is determined that there isan unprocessed panel 21, then the process returns to step S21. In otherwords, the process of steps S21 to S25 is repeated until all the panels21 are controlled to be any one of the light shielding state and thelight transmission state. Then, in step S25, if it is determined thatthere is no unprocessed panel 21, the process proceeds to step S26.

In step S26, the controller 13 determines whether there is aninstruction to end the process of controlling the light shielding wall,and if it is determined that there is no instruction, then the processreturns to step S11. In other words, the process of steps S11 to S26 isrepeated until there is an instruction to end the process. In step S26,if it is determined that there is an instruction to end the process, andthen the process ends.

According to the process described above, in two spaces partitioned bythe light shielding wall 11 as illustrated in FIG. 1, for example, thepanel 21′-A in the light-shielding wall 11 on the optical path L1 thatcorresponds to the line of sight of the eyes E1 of the person H1 presentin the second space is controlled to be in a light shielding state,resulting in the state where the object B1 is invisible to the personH1. Similarly, for example, if the person H1 is moved to the position ofthe person H2, the panel 21′-B in the light-shielding wall 11 on theoptical path L2 that corresponds to the line of sight of the eyes E2 ofthe person H2 and the panel 21′-C adjacent to the panel 21′-B arecontrolled to be in the light shielding state, resulting in the statewhere the object B1 is invisible.

Moreover, in FIG. 1, if only the person H1 is present, then only thepanel 21′-A is controlled to be in a light shielding state, and thepanels 21′-B and 21′-C are controlled to be in a light transmissionstate. Then, if the person H1 is moved to the position of the person H2,the panel 21′-A is controlled to be in a light transmission state, andthe panels 21′-B and 21′-C are controlled to be in a light shieldingstate. In other words, each state of the panel 21′ controlled to be in alight shielding state and the panel 21 controlled to be in a lighttransmission state varies with the position of a person. Furthermore, ifthe persons H1 and H2 are present at the same time, then all the panels21′-A to 21′-C are controlled to be in a light shielding state, and inthe subsequent time, if the persons H1 and H2 are moved, then a panel21′ corresponding to the moved position is controlled to be in a lightshielding state and the panels 21′-A to 21′-C are controlled to be in alight transmission state.

As a result, for example, if the first space is used as a conferenceroom and the object B1 is made of a whiteboard on which the details ofproceedings of conference are recorded, the whiteboard that is theobject B1 is invisible to a person who goes through the second spacethat is the space outside the conference room. Thus, the revelation ofthe details of conference by stealing a look at the conference can beprevented. Furthermore, even when the details of proceedings ofconference is made invisible as described above, a panel 21 of a regionin which an optical path corresponding to the line of sight of theperson H1 or H2 in the second space is not present is controlled to bein a light transmission state, and thus the range, which forms aboundary with the second space and is controlled to be in a lightshielding state, can be reduced to a minimum necessary range in thesecond space that is the conference room, thereby forming the conferenceroom with a sense of openness. The first space can be used as not only aconference room described above but also a space for other uses.

In the above, there has been described an example in which the object B1that is located in the first space is controlled in a state where it isinvisible to a person in the second space, but for example, instead ofthe object B1, an optical path L11 that is the line of sight of the eyesof a person H12 in the first space may be set to be in a state in whichit is invisible to a person H11 in the second space. Thus, asillustrated in FIG. 6, the major part of the light shielding wall 11 iscontrolled to be in a light transmission state, and thus the first spaceis a space with a sense of openness, but the persons present on theinside and outside of the light shielding wall are prevented from makingeye contact with each other, thereby forming the conference room with asense of openness without worrying about the eyes of others.Furthermore, the whole body of the person H12, instead of the object B1,in the first space is set to the end point of the optical path, thus itis possible that a figure of the person H12 in the first space isinvisible to the person H11 in the second space. By doing so, althoughthe person H11 in the second space may recognize that someone or theperson H12 is present in the first space (even if the person H12 isinvisible, the presence of someone can be recognized by the existence ofthe panel 21′ having a light shielding state), who the person is or whatclothes the person wears can be prevented from being recognizedvisually. Even by doing so, most of the panels 21 are controlled to bein a light transmission state, and thus it is possible to use the firstspace as a space with a sense of openness.

Moreover, in the above, there has been described an example in which anoptical path is established between an object in the first space and theeyes of a person in the second space or between the eyes of a person inthe first space and the eyes of a person in the second space and a panelthat belongs to the position of the intersection point on the lightshielding wall 11 of the established optical path is controlled to be ina light shielding state, but for example, as illustrated in FIG. 7, anoptical path may be established between the position of the sun in thefirst space and the position of an object in the second space.

In other words, FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which an optical pathL31 is established between the sun B32 in the first space and an objectB31 such as a fruit in the second space. As illustrated in FIG. 7, apanel 21 that belongs to the position X31 of the intersection point withthe optical path L31 in the light shielding wall 11 is controlled to bein a light shielding state, and thus as illustrated in FIG. 8, a shadedportion B33 is provided so as to avoid exposing the object B31 such as afruit to direct sunlight from the sun B32, and the optical path L31 ischanged with the movement of the sun B32, thus the state of the panel 21controlled to be in a light shielding state is changed. Accordingly, theobject B31 such as a fruit can be continuously prevented from beingexposed to direct sunlight, thereby suppressing the decay of a fruit orthe like. In addition, a person or the like, instead of the object B31in FIG. 7, may be configured, and in this case, it is possible to avoidexposing the person to direct sunlight.

The process of controlling the light shielding wall in the examples ofFIGS. 6 to 8 is substantially similar to the process of FIG. 5 exceptthat an object or a person that is the start and end points of theoptical path in the process of FIGS. 6 to 8 is different from theprocess of FIG. 5, and thus description thereof will be omitted.However, sunlight may be regarded as parallel light and thus thedetermination of start position is unable to be performed strictly.However, in order to specify an optical path passing through the lightshielding wall, it is sufficient to specify any one of the start and endpoints as long as the direction of an optical path of sunlight isobtained. In other words, in the example of FIG. 8, in specifying anoptical path made of sunlight, it is sufficient to specify an opticalpath passing through the light shielding wall as long as the directionof an optical path of sunlight and the position information of theobject B31 that is the end point are specified. In this case, in theexample of employing sunlight as in FIG. 8, a process of determining thedirection of an optical path of sunlight that is parallel light isperformed instead of the process of specifying a start point of theoptical path, and the process of specifying an optical path is performedby using information about an end point and the direction of an opticalpath of sunlight.

2. Second Embodiment Exemplary Configuration According to SecondEmbodiment of Light Shielding Device

There has been described in the above an example of the light shieldingdevice which allows what is not desired to be viewed to be invisible,but by a similar function, what is desired to be viewed may be allowedto be visible to a person supposed to be viewed.

For example, it is considered a case in which the first space is set asa display window for displaying products for sale and the second spaceis set as a passage in front of the display window. In addition, it isassumed that a product for men B41 and a product for women B42 arepresent in a display window that is the first space, as respectivelyillustrated in the left and right portions of FIG. 9. In FIG. 9, theconfiguration that has substantially the same function as theconfiguration of FIG. 1 is indicated by the same name and referencenumeral, and the description thereof is omitted as appropriate.

For example, as illustrated in the left portion of FIG. 9, a case wherea person H41 who is a male is passing by in the second space isconsidered. In this case, if only a panel 21, which includes a positionX41 that is the intersection point on the light shielding wall 11 in anoptical path L41 corresponding to the line of sight of the person H41 tothe product B41, is controlled to be in a light transmission state andother panels 21′ are controlled to be in a light shielding state, onlythe product for men B41 can be visible to the person H41 who is a male.

Similarly, as illustrated in the right portion of FIG. 9, in a case inwhich a person H42 who is a female is passing by in the second space, ifonly a panel 21, which includes a position X42 that is the intersectionpoint on the light shielding wall 11 in an optical path L42corresponding to the line of sight of the person H42 to the product B42,is controlled to be in a light transmission state and other panels 21′are controlled to be in a light shielding state, only the product forwomen B42 can be visible to the person H42 who is a female.

As described above, it may be possible to allow what is desired to beviewed to be visible to a person who is supposed to be viewed.

Exemplary Configuration of Implementation of Controller of FIG. 9

Subsequently, referring to the block diagram of FIG. 10, there will bedescribed an exemplary configuration of a controller 13 in the lightshielding device of FIG. 9 which is intended to allow what is desired tobe viewed to be visible to a person who is supposed to be viewed. Theconfiguration that has substantially the same function as theconfiguration described above with reference to FIG. 4 is indicated bythe same name and reference numeral, and the description thereof isomitted as appropriate. In other words, the controller 13 of FIG. 10 isdifferent from the controller 13 of FIG. 4 in that a sex determinationunit 101 and a target sex determination unit 102 are further provided,and an optical path calculation unit 103 and a light shielding positionspecifying and storing unit 104 are provided instead of the optical pathcalculation unit 54 and the light shielding position specifying andstoring unit 56, respectively.

The sex determination unit 101 determines the sex of a person includedin an image which is captured by the camera 12-2 that captures theinside of the second space and is supplied from the image acquisitionunit 51-2. More specifically, the sex determination unit 101 specifiesthe position of a person by searching a facial image in the capturedimage, extracts features of a male or female from information about thefacial image, and determines the sex based on the presence or absence ofthe features. The features include, for example, the Adam's apple and abeard for a male, and hairstyle or the like for a female. Thedetermination of the sex can further use a body system, clothes, or thelike of a person based on the whole body image of the person specifiedfrom the facial image.

The target sex determination unit 102 determines the sex of a personthat is a target object (hereinafter, referred to as target sex) foreach product, that is, whether the product is for men or women for theproduct included in the image captured by the camera 12-1 that capturesthe inside of the first space and is supplied from the image acquisitionunit 51-1. More specifically, the target sex determination unit 102determines a target sex based on the design, color scheme, size, or thelike of a product. The target sex may be stored previously inassociation with an image for each product.

The optical path calculation unit 103 is basically similar in functionto the optical path calculation unit 54, but the optical pathcalculation unit 103 calculates an optical path by setting the opticalpath so that the sex of a person that is the optical path start positionmay match the target sex of a product that is the optical path endposition.

The light shielding position specifying and storing unit 104 isbasically similar in function to the light shielding position specifyingand storing unit 56, but it is considered that the light shieldingposition specifying and storing unit 104 controls a panel 21 to whichthe wall transmission position calculated by the wall transmissionposition calculation unit 55 belongs to be in a light transmission stateand controls a panel 21′ to which the wall transmission position doesnot belong to be in a light shielding state. In other words, since thelight shielding device of FIG. 9 is intended to be viewed, a panel 21that is necessary to be controlled in a light shielding state becomes apanel 21 of the region through which an optical path that is the line ofsight does not pass.

Process of Controlling Light Shielding Wall by Controller of FIG. 10

Subsequently, referring to the flowchart of FIG. 11, a process ofcontrolling the light shielding wall by the controller 13 of FIG. 10will be described. The process of steps S41 to S46, S51 to S53, S57, andS58 in the flowchart of FIG. 11 is similar to that of steps S11 to S16,S19 to S21, S25, and S26, respectively, described with reference to theflowchart of FIG. 5, so the description thereof is omitted asappropriate.

In other words, in steps S41 to S45, the camera 12-1 captures an imagein the direction that is the end point of the optical path in the firstspace and supplies the captured image and a distance image to the imageacquisition unit 51-1, and the camera 12-2 captures an image in thedirection that is the start point of the optical path in the secondspace and supplies the captured image and a distance image to the imageacquisition unit 51-2. Then, the image acquisition units 51-1 and 51-2acquire the captured image and the distance image supplied from thecameras 12-1 and 12-2, respectively. The image acquisition unit 51-1supplies the captured image and the distance image to the optical pathend position measurement unit 53 and the target sex determination unit102. In addition, the image acquisition unit 51-2 supplies the capturedimage and the distance image to the optical path start positionmeasurement unit 52 and the sex determination unit 101. Furthermore, ifit is determined that there are a person that is the start position ofthe optical path and a product that is the end position of the opticalpath in the respective images, then the process proceeds to step S46.

In step S46, the optical path start position measurement unit 52measures the optical start position by specifying the position of aperson by using a facial image recognition process and further byspecifying the position of the eyes of each person, and supplies themeasured position to the optical path calculation unit 103.

In step S47, the sex determination unit 101 searches a facial image fromthe image, determines the sex of each person based on the searchedfacial image, and supplies the determined result in association with theposition at which a person is present to the optical path calculationunit 103.

In step S48, the optical path end position measurement unit 53 specifiesan optical path end position in association with the position of thecamera 12-1 from the distance information on the distance image, whichcorresponds to a pixel in the position of the searched product, andsupplies the specified optical path end position to the optical pathcalculation unit 103.

In step S49, the target sex determination unit 102 searches a productfrom the image, determines a target sex of each product based on thesearched product, and supplies the determined result in association withthe position at which the product is present to the optical pathcalculation unit 103.

In step S50, the optical path calculation unit 103 specifies an opticalpath start position corresponding to the sex, based on the optical pathstart position supplied from the optical path start position measurementunit 52 and the sex determination result supplied from the sexdetermination unit 101. In addition, the optical path calculation unit103 specifies an optical path end position corresponding to the targetsex, based on the optical path end position supplied from the opticalpath end position measurement unit 53 and the target sex determinationresult supplied from the target sex determination unit 102. Then, theoptical path calculation unit 103 calculates an optical path based onthe optical path start position and the optical path end position inwhich the sex determination result matches the target sex determinationresult.

In step S51, the wall transmission position calculation unit 55calculates a wall transmission position that indicates a position on thelight shielding wall 11 through which the optical path passes based onthe information about the optical path supplied from the optical pathcalculation unit 54.

In step S52, the light shielding position specifying and storing unit104 specifies and stores the position of a panel 21 that belongs to thewall transmission position from among the panels 21 constituting thelight shielding wall 11 based on information about the wall transmissionposition on the light shielding wall 11.

In step S53, the light shielding control unit 57 sets an unprocessedpanel 21 from among the panels 21 on the light shielding wall 11 as apanel to be processed.

In step S54, the light shielding control unit 57 determines whether apanel to be processed is a panel 21 that belongs to the walltransmission position based on information indicating the position of apanel that belongs to the wall transmission position of an optical paththat is stored in the light shielding position specifying and storingunit 104. For example, in step S54, if the panel 21 to be processed isnot a panel 21 at the light transmission position, then in step S55, thelight shielding control unit 57 controls so that the panel 21 to beprocessed may be in a light transmission state. On the other hand, instep S54, if the panel 21 to be processed is a panel 21 at the lighttransmission position, then in step S56, the light shielding controlunit 57 controls so that the panel 21 to be processed may be in a lightshielding state. In other words, in contrast to the case described abovewith reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5, only the panel 21 at thelight transmission position is controlled to be in a light transmissionstate, and other panels 21′ are controlled to be in a light shieldingstate.

With the process described above, as illustrated in the left portion ofFIG. 9, in the second space, if the person H41 who is a male passes byin front of the light shielding wall 11, only the product for men B41 isallowed to be visible, and thus the product B41 that is intended to bevisible to only males from among a plurality of products displayed in adisplay window that is the first space can be allowed to be visible toonly males. Similarly, as illustrated in the right portion of FIG. 9, inthe second space, if the person H42 who is a female passes by in frontof the light shielding wall 11, only the product for women B42 isallowed to be visible, and thus the product B42 that is intended to bevisible to only females from among a plurality of products displayed ina display window that is the first space can be allowed to be visible toonly females. As a result, it is possible to allow what is desired to beviewed to be visible to a person who is supposed to be viewed, and thusproducts displayed in a display window can be effectively appealed tothe purchasers of the products.

Although there has been described in the above an example in which anoptical path is established in association with the sex of a person andthe target sex of a product, a person may be separately set according toits classification as well as the sex, and for example, an optical pathmay be established depending on age group, race, or the like.

3. Third Embodiment Exemplary Configuration According to ThirdEmbodiment of Light Shielding Device

There has been described in the above an example of allowing what isdesired to be viewed to be invisible and an example of allowing what isdesired to be viewed to be visible to a person who is supposed to beviewed, by controlling the panel 21 constituting the light shieldingwall 11 to be any one of a light transmission state and a lightshielding state, but for example, it may be possible to display amessage on the panel 21 controlled to be in a light shielding state.

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary configuration according to a thirdembodiment of a light shielding device, which allows a message to bedisplayed on the panel 21 controlled to be in a light shielding state.In the light shielding device of FIG. 12, the configuration that hassubstantially the same function as the configuration of the lightshielding device of FIG. 1 is indicated by the same name and referencenumeral, and the description thereof is omitted as appropriate.

In other words, the light shielding device of FIG. 12 is different fromthe light shielding device of FIG. 1 in that it further includes aprojection unit 121 that projects an image in units of panel on thelight shielding wall 11. The projection unit 121 is, for example, aprojector, and can project a message onto the panel 21 controlled to bein a light shielding state under the control of the controller 13. InFIG. 12, a message marked as “confidential” is displayed on a panel 21″in which an optical path L51 corresponding to the line of sight from theeyes E51 of a person H51 passes through a position X51 of the lightshielding wall from among the panels 21 on the light shielding wall 11,and the panel 21″ is controlled to be in a light shielding state. Thus,it is possible to recognize that there is an object B51 which isintended to be invisible to the person H51, that is, to be in aconfidential state, on the optical path corresponding to the line ofsight controlled to be in a light shielding state.

Exemplary Configuration of Implementation of Controller of FIG. 12

Subsequently, referring to the block diagram of FIG. 13, there will bedescribed an exemplary configuration of a controller 13 in the lightshielding device of FIG. 12 in which a message can be projected onto thepanel controlled to be in a light shielding state. The configurationthat has substantially the same function as the configuration describedabove with reference to FIG. 4 is indicated by the same name andreference numeral, and the description thereof is omitted asappropriate. In other words, the controller 13 of FIG. 13 is differentfrom the controller 13 of FIG. 4 in that a projection control unit 131for controlling the projection unit 121 is provided.

The projection control unit 131 controls the projection unit 121 toproject a message that has been set onto the corresponding panel 21,based on the information about the panel 21 that belongs to the positionof the intersection point on the light shielding wall 11 of the opticalpath stored in the light shielding position specifying and storing unit56.

Process of Controlling Light Shielding Wall by Controller of FIG. 13

Subsequently, referring to the flowchart of FIG. 14, a process ofcontrolling the light shielding wall by the controller 13 of FIG. 13will be described. The process of steps S81 to S87 except for theprocess of step S84 of FIG. 14 is similar to the process described abovewith reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5, thus the description thereofis omitted.

In other words, if a panel to be processed is determined to be a panel21 that belongs to the position through which the optical path passes bythe process of step S82 and the panel to be processed is controlled tobe in a light shielding state by the process of step S83, then theprocess proceeds to step S84.

In step S84, the projection control unit 131 controls the projectionunit 121 to project a message previously set onto the correspondingpanel 21″ as illustrated in FIG. 12, based on the information about thepanel 21 that belongs to the position of the intersection point on thelight shielding wall 11 of the optical path that is stored in the lightshielding position specifying and storing unit 56. In FIG. 12, althoughthere has been illustrated an example in which the message marked as“confidential” is displayed, the message is not limited thereto, forexample, a message marked as “under construction” may be displayed.

With the process described above, by displaying a message onto a panelcontrolled to be in a light shielding state, for example, it is possibleto display the reason why it is controlled to be in a light shieldingstate. The message may have no relation to the light shielding state,for example, in a case of the light shielding device or the like of FIG.9 applied to a display window, the item description of a product that isvisible from a panel 21 controlled to be in a light transmission statemay be projected onto the panel 21′ controlled to be in a lightshielding state. In addition, there has been described in the above anexample in which the projection unit 121 is allowed to project amessage, but a message may be displayed on the panel 21′ controlled tobe in a light shielding state and thus not only the display of a messageby the projection but also the configuration capable of displaying thepanel 21 itself may allow a preset message to be displayed when thepanel is controlled to be in a light shielding state.

4. Fourth Embodiment Exemplary Configuration According to FourthEmbodiment of Light Shielding Device

Although there has been described in the above an example in which amessage is projected onto a panel controlled to be in a light shieldingstate, an image may be projected onto a panel 21′ controlled to be in alight shielding state. Furthermore, a scene viewed through the panel 21controlled to be in a light transmission state in the vicinity of thepanel 21′ controlled to be in a light shielding state is captured, andan image viewed in a case in which the panel 21′ controlled to be in alight shielding state is controlled to be in a light transmission statemay be generated and projected.

FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary configuration of the light shieldingdevice which captures an image viewed by the light transmission state ofthe panel 21 controlled to be in a light transmission state in thevicinity of the panel 21′″ controlled to be in a light shielding state,generates an image to be viewed like a case in which the panel 21′″ iscontrolled to be in a light transmission state from the captured image,and allows the generated image to be projected onto the panel 21′″. Inthe light shielding device of FIG. 15, the configuration that hassubstantially the same function as the light shielding device of FIG. 1is indicated by the same name and reference numeral, and the descriptionthereof is omitted as appropriate.

In other words, the light shielding device of FIG. 15 is different fromthe light shielding device of FIG. 1 in that a projection unit 141 and acamera 142 are further provided. The camera 142 captures the entirelight shielding wall 11 from the second space and supplies the capturedimage to the controller 13. The controller 13 of FIG. 15 generates, fromamong images of a scene viewed through the panel 21 controlled to be ina light transmission state in the vicinity of the panel 21′″ controlledto be in a light shielding state from the captured image, an image to beviewed like a case in which the panel 21′″ is controlled to be in alight transmission state, for example, by using interpolation, andcontrols the projection unit 141 to project the generated image.

Thus, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 15, an object B71 is invisibleto a person H71 and also the image generated by interpolation using animage of a scene viewed by the person H71, for example, through panels21-1 to 21-8 that are controlled to be in a light transmission state inthe vicinity of the panel 21′″ is projected onto the panel 21′″controlled to be in a light shielding state, and thus it is possible toallow the person H71 to view a scene that appears as if an object B71 isnot present over the light shielding wall 11. As a result, the personH71 is difficult to recognize that the panel 21′″ is controlled to be ina light shielding state, and thus the person H71 can be prevented frombeing conscious of the presence of the object H71 that is not intendedto be viewed.

Exemplary Configuration of Implementation of Controller of FIG. 15

Subsequently, referring to the block diagram of FIG. 16, there will bedescribed an exemplary configuration of the controller 13 of FIG. 15 inwhich an image generated by interpolation from the image of a sceneviewed through the panels 21 controlled to be in a light transmissionstate in the vicinity of the panel 21′″ is projected onto the panel 21′″controlled to be in a light shielding state. In the block diagram ofFIG. 15, the configuration which has substantially the same function asthe configuration described above with reference to the block diagramsof FIGS. 4 and 13 is indicated by the same name and reference numeral,and the description thereof is omitted as appropriate. In other words,the controller 13 of FIG. 15 is different from the controllers 13 ofFIGS. 4 and 13 in that the controller 13 of FIG. 15 is further providedwith an image acquisition unit 151, an image generation unit 152, and aprojection control unit 153. The image acquisition unit 151 acquires animage obtained by capturing the entire light shielding wall 11 with thecamera 142.

In other words, the image acquisition unit 151 acquires an imageobtained by capturing the entire light shielding wall 11 by the camera142 and supplies the acquired image to the image generation unit 152.

The image generation unit 152 generates an image in which the panel 21′″is to be controlled in a light transmission state based on the imagecorresponding to the panel 21 controlled to be in a light transmissionstate in the vicinity of the panel 21′″ from among the images suppliedfrom the image acquisition unit 151 based on information which stored inthe light shielding position specifying and storing unit 56 about thepanel 21′″ controlled to be in a light shielding state, and supplies thegenerated image to the projection control unit 153. The projectioncontrol unit 153 controls the projection unit 141 to project the imagegenerated by the image generation unit 152 onto the panel 21′″controlled to be in a light shielding state.

Process of Controlling Light Shielding Wall by Controller of FIG. 16

Subsequently, referring to the flowchart of FIG. 17, a process ofcontrolling the light shielding wall by the controller 13 of FIG. 16will be described. The process of steps S101 to S120 except for theprocess of steps S103, 106, S116, and S117 in FIG. 17 is similar to theprocess described above with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5, thusthe description thereof is omitted.

In other words, the cameras 12-2 and 12-1 capture an image in steps S101and S102, respectively.

In step S103, the camera 142 captures the entire light shielding wall11. The image to be captured in this step is, for example, an image of ascene that is visible from the person H71 over the panel 21 controlledto be in a light transmission state as illustrated in FIG. 15.

In steps S104 and S105, the image acquisition units 51-2 and 51-1acquire an image from the cameras 12-2 and 12-1, respectively.

In step S106, the image acquisition unit 151 acquires an image of theentire light shielding wall 11 that is captured by the camera 142 and isviewed from the direction of the second space.

In step S107, if it is determined that there is a person or an object inthe image supplied from the cameras 12-1 and 12-2, then the processproceeds to step S108.

In step S108, an optical path start position is calculated, and in stepS109, an optical path end position is calculated, and in step S110, anoptical path is calculated.

In step S111, a wall transmission position is calculated from thecalculated optical path.

In step S112, the position information about a panel corresponding tothe wall transmission position of the optical path on the lightshielding wall 11 is specified and stored.

A panel 21 to be processed is set in step S113, and if it is determinedin step S114 that the panel to be processed is a panel through which anoptical path passes, then the light shielding control unit 57 controlsthe panel to be processed to be in a light shielding state in step S115.

In step S116, the image generation unit 152, as illustrated in FIG. 15,generates an image in which the panel 21′″ is to be controlled to be ina light transmission state based on the image corresponding to the panel21 controlled to be in a light transmission state in the vicinity of thepanel 21″ from among the images supplied from the image acquisition unit151 based on the information about the panel 21′″ controlled to be in alight shielding state, which is stored in the light shielding positionspecifying and storing unit 56, and supplies the generated image to theprojection control unit 153. In other words, in the case of FIG. 15, ifa panel to be processed is the panel 21′″, then the image generationunit 152 generates an image viewed like a case in which the panel 21′″is controlled to be in a light transmission state by an interpolationprocess using images over the panels 21-1 to 21-8 controlled to be in alight transmission state in the vicinity of the panel 21″ from amongimages of the entire light shielding wall 11.

In step S117, the projection control unit 153 controls the projectionunit 141 to project the image generated by the image generation unit 152onto the panel 21″ which is to be processed and is controlled to be in alight shielding state.

As a result, as illustrated in FIG. 15, the image generated byinterpolation based on the image of a scene viewed over the panel 21controlled to be in a light transmission state in the vicinity of thepanel 21″ is projected onto the panel 21′″ controlled to be in a lightshielding state, thus the object B71 is invisible to the person H71 andeven if the object B71 is invisible, the panel 21″ with no sense ofdiscomfort can be visible, accordingly the person H71 can be preventedfrom being conscious of what is in a state in which is not viewed.

There has been described in the above an example of generating andprojecting an image generated by interpolation among from images oflandscape viewed over the panel 21 controlled to be in a lighttransmission state in the vicinity of the panel 21′″ controlled to be ina light shielding state, but an image with no sense of discomfort may begenerated and projected onto the panel 21 controlled to be in a lightshielding state, thus other types of images can be used. For example, animage subjected to a process of erasing the object B71 is generated froman image of a state in which the object B71 is visible before it iscontrolled to be in a light shielding state and then it may beprojected. In addition, the image to be projected onto the panel 21′″controlled to be in a light shielding state is sufficient to be an imagewith a reduced sense of discomfort with respect to the scene viewed overthe panel 21 controlled to be in a light transmission state, and thus,for example, a signboard that was not there originally or an imagehaving a completely different scene may be projected.

In the above, the description is made for the example in which a lightshielding wall is a wall used as a partition to separate a room or thelike, but it is not limited to a wall, and it may be used for a window,a ceiling, or the like, and it also may be used for a body, window, andthe like of a vehicle.

As described above, in accordance with the present technology, it ispossible to hide what is intended to be hidden and to intelligiblydisplay what is necessary to be displayed in a visible way.

Incidentally, the above series of processes may be executed by hardwareor software. In the case where the series of processes is executed bysoftware, a program constituting the software is installed from arecording medium in a computer incorporated into dedicated hardware or,for example, in a general-purpose personal computer that is capable ofexecuting various functions by installing various programs therein.

FIG. 18 illustrates an exemplary configuration of a general-purposepersonal computer. The personal computer includes a central processingunit (CPU) 1001. An input/output interface 1005 is connected to the CPU1001 through a bus 1004. A read only memory (ROM) 1002 and a randomaccess memory (RAM) 1003 are connected to the bus 1004.

An input unit 1006 including an input device, such as a keyboard, amouse, etc., which is used by the user to input an operation command, anoutput unit 1007 which outputs a process operation screen or an image ofa process result to a display device, a storage unit 1008 including ahard disk drive etc. which stores a program or various items of data,and a communication unit 1009 including a local area network (LAN)adaptor etc. which performs a communication process through a networktypified by the Internet, are connected to the input/output interface1005. In addition, a drive 1010 that reads and writes data from and to aremovable medium 1011, such as a magnetic disk (including a flexibledisk), an optical disk (including a compact disc-read only memory(CD-ROM) and a digital versatile disc (DVD)), an magneto-optical disk(including a mini disc (MD)), or a semiconductor memory, etc. isconnected to the input/output interface 1005.

The CPU 1001 executes various processes according to a program stored inthe ROM 1002 or a program which is read from the removable medium 1011,such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or asemiconductor memory, etc., is installed in the storage unit 1008, andis loaded from the storage unit 1008 to the RAM 1003. The RAM 1003 alsostores data which is required when the CPU 1001 executes variousprocesses, etc., as appropriate.

In the computer configured as described above, the CPU 1001 loads aprogram that is stored, for example, in the storage unit 1008 onto theRAM 1003 via the input/output interface 1005 and the bus 1004 andexecutes the program, and accordingly, the above-described series ofprocessing is performed.

Programs to be executed by the computer (the CPU 1001) may be providedbeing recorded in the removable medium 1011 which is a packaged mediumor the like. Also, programs may be provided via a wired or wirelesstransmission medium, such as a local area network, the Internet ordigital satellite broadcasting.

In the computer, by inserting the removable medium 1011 into the drive1010, the program can be installed in the storage unit 1008 via theinput/output interface 1005. Further, the communication unit 1009 canreceive the program via a wired or wireless transmission medium and theprogram can be installed in the storage unit 1008. Moreover, the programcan be installed in advance in the ROM 1002 or the storage unit 1008.

It should be noted that the program executed by a computer may be aprogram that is processed in time series according to the sequencedescribed in this specification or a program that is processed inparallel or at necessary timing such as upon calling.

Further, in the present specification, a system has the meaning of a setof a plurality of configured elements (such as an apparatus or a module(part)), and does not take into account whether or not all theconfigured elements are in the same casing. Therefore, the system may beeither a plurality of apparatuses, stored in separate casings andconnected through a network, or a plurality of modules within a singlecasing.

An embodiment of the technology is not limited to the embodimentsdescribed above, and various changes and modifications may be madewithout departing from the scope of the technology.

For example, the present technology can adopt a configuration of cloudcomputing which processes by allocating and connecting one function by aplurality of apparatuses through a network.

Further, each step described by the above-mentioned flowcharts can beexecuted by one apparatus or by allocating a plurality of apparatuses.

In addition, in the case where a plurality of processes is included inone step, the plurality of processes included in this one step can beexecuted by one apparatus or by allocating a plurality of apparatuses.

Additionally, the present technology may also be configured as below.

Additionally, the present technology may also be configured as below.

(1) A light shielding device including:

a light shielding wall configured to include a plurality of panels, thelight shielding wall being used as a partition of a first space and asecond space, the plurality of panels being controllable in either alight transmission state in which light is transmitted or a lightshielding state in which light is shielded;

an optical path specifying unit configured to specify a predeterminedoptical path to be passed through the light shielding wall;

a panel specifying unit configured to specify a panel on the lightshielding wall, the panel being corresponded to a position at which thepredetermined optical path specified by the optical path specifying unitpasses through the light shielding wall; and

a controller configured to control a light transmission state or a lightshielding state for the plurality of panels on the light shielding wallbased on information about a panel specified by the panel specifyingunit.

(2) The light shielding device according to (1), further including:

a start position specifying unit configured to specify a start positionin the first space from which the predetermined optical path passesthrough the light shielding wall; and

an end position specifying unit configured to specify an end position inthe second space at which the predetermined optical path has passedthrough the light shielding wall,

wherein the optical specifying unit specifies the predetermined opticalpath based on information about the start position specified by thestart position specifying unit and the end position specified by the endposition specifying unit.

(3) The light shielding device according to (2), including:

a first image capturing unit configured to capture an image of the firstspace; and

a second image capturing unit configured to capture an image of thesecond space,

wherein the start position specifying unit specifies the start positionin the first space from which the predetermined optical path passesthrough the light shielding wall based on the image captured by thefirst image capturing unit, and

wherein the end position specifying unit specifies the end position inthe second space at which the predetermined optical path has passedthrough the light shielding wall based on the image captured by thesecond image capturing unit.

(4) The light shielding device according to (2), wherein the startposition is a position of eyes of a person in the first space and theend position is a position of a target which is not intended to beviewed by a person in the second space,

wherein the controller controls a panel specified by the panelspecifying unit to be in the light shielding state and controls otherpanels to be in the light transmission state.

(5) The light shielding device according to (4), wherein the targetwhich is not intended to be viewed by a person in the second spaceincludes a predetermined object or a prescribed portion of apredetermined person, the predetermined object or the predeterminedperson being present in the second space.

(6) The light shielding device according to (5), wherein the prescribedportion of the predetermined person includes a face, eyes, or a wholebody of the predetermined person.

(7) The light shielding device according to (2), wherein the startposition is a position of eyes of a person in the first space and theend position is a position of a product which is intended to be viewedby the person in the second space,

wherein the controller controls a panel specified by the panelspecifying unit to be in the light transmission state and controls otherpanels to be in the light shielding state.

(8) The light shielding device according to claim 7, further including:

a sex determination unit configured to determine sex of a person in thefirst space; and

a target sex determination unit configured to determine target sex thatis sex of a person as a target for a product in the second space,

wherein the start position is a position of eyes of a person in thefirst space and the end position is a position of a product in which sexof the person corresponds with target sex of the product from amongproducts which are intended to be viewed by the person in the secondspace.

(9) The light shielding device according to (2), wherein the startposition is a position of a target which is not intended to be exposedto direct sunlight in the first space and the end position is a positionof a light source of sunlight from the second space,

wherein the optical path specifying unit, when a light source of thepredetermined optical path is sunlight, regards the sunlight as parallellight rays and specifies the predetermined optical path, based oninformation about a direction of a predetermined optical path using thesunlight as a light source and the start position, and

wherein the controller controls a panel specified by the panelspecifying unit to be in the light transmission state and controls otherpanels to be in the light shielding state.

(10) The light shielding device according to (1), further including:

a projection unit configured to project an image onto a panel controlledto be in the light shielding state, the projection being performed foreach of the panels.

(11) The light shielding device according to (10), wherein theprojection unit projects an image including a message onto the panelcontrolled to be in the light shielding state, the projection beingperformed for each of the panels.

(12) The light shielding device according to (10), further including:

a third image capturing unit configured to capture an image when eachpanel of the light shielding wall is in the light transmission state inthe first space; and

an interpolated image generation unit configured to generate aninterpolated image of a panel controlled to be in a light shieldingstate by the controller based on an image captured by the third imagecapturing unit,

wherein the projection unit projects the interpolated image onto thepanel controlled to be in the light shielding state, the projectionbeing performed for each of the panels.

(13) The light shielding device according to (1), wherein the opticalpath specifying unit specifies a plurality of predetermined opticalpaths to be passed through the light shielding wall,

wherein the panel specifying unit specifies a plurality of panels on thelight shielding wall, the plurality of panels being corresponded topositions at which the plurality of predetermined optical paths passthrough the light shielding wall, and

wherein the controller controls a light transmission state or a lightshielding state for the plurality of panels on the light shielding wallbased on information about a panel specified by the panel specifyingunit.

(14) A method for shielding light in a light shielding device providedwith a light shielding wall configured to be used as a partition of afirst space and a second space and configured to include a plurality ofpanels controllable in either a light transmission state in which lightis transmitted or a light shielding state in which light is shielded,the method comprising the steps of:

performing an optical path specifying process of specifying apredetermined optical path to be passed through the light shieldingwall;

performing a panel specifying process of specifying a panel on the lightshielding wall, the panel being corresponded to a position at which thepredetermined optical path specified by performing the optical pathspecifying process passes through the light shielding wall; and

performing a control process of controlling a light transmission stateor a light shielding state for the plurality of panels on the lightshielding wall based on information about a panel specified byperforming the panel specifying process.

(15) A program for causing a computer, which controls a light shieldingdevice provided with a light shielding wall configured to be used as apartition of a first space and a second space and configured to includea plurality of panels controllable in either a light transmission statein which light is transmitted or a light shielding state in which lightis shielded, to execute the processing of:

an optical path specifying step of specifying a predetermined opticalpath to be passed through the light shielding wall;

a panel specifying step of specifying a panel on the light shieldingwall, the panel being corresponded to a position at which thepredetermined optical path specified by performing a process of theoptical path specifying step passes through the light shielding wall;and

a control step of controlling a light transmission state or a lightshielding state for the plurality of panels on the light shielding wallbased on information about a panel specified by performing a process ofthe panel specifying step.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 11 light shielding wall 12, 12-1, 12-2 camera 13controller 21, 21-A to 21-C, panel 21-1 to 21-8, 21′, 21″, 21″′ 51,51-1, 51-2 image acquisition unit 52 optical path start positionmeasurement unit 53 optical path end position measurement unit 54optical path calculation unit 55 wall transmission position calculationunit 56 light shielding position specifying and storing unit 57 lightshielding control unit 101 sex determination unit 102 target sexdetermination unit 103 optical path calculation unit 104 light shieldingposition specifying and storing unit 121 projection unit 131 projectioncontrol unit 141 projection unit 142 camera 151 image acquisition unit152 image generation unit 153 projection control unit

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a light shieldingwall that includes a first plurality of regions, wherein the lightshielding wall is set between a first space and a second space, whereinthe first plurality of regions are controllable in at least one of alight transmission state in which light is transmitted or a lightshielding state in which light is shielded; and a central processingunit (CPU) configured to: specify a start point information indicativeof a point in the first space from which an optical path passes throughthe light shielding wall and an end point information indicative of apoint in the second space to which the optical path has passed throughthe light shielding wall; specify the optical path based on the startpoint information and the end point information; specify a region in thefirst plurality of regions of the light shielding wall, wherein theregion corresponds to a position at which the specified optical pathpasses through the light shielding wall; and control the lighttransmission state or the light shielding state for at least one regionin the first plurality of regions of the light shielding wall based oninformation about the specified region.
 2. The system according to claim1, further comprising: a first image sensor configured to capture afirst image of the first space; and a second image sensor configured tocapture a second image of the second space, wherein the CPU is furtherconfigured to: specify the start point information in the first spacefrom which the specified optical path passes through the light shieldingwall based on the captured first image; and specify the end pointinformation in the second space at which the specified optical path haspassed through the light shielding wall based on the captured secondimage.
 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the start pointinformation is a position of eyes of a first person in the first spaceand the end point information is a position of a target unintended to beviewed by a second person in the second space, wherein the CPU isfurther configured to: control the specified region to be in the lightshielding state; and control regions of the first plurality of regionsother than the specified region to be in the light transmission state.4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the target unintended to beviewed by the second person in the second space includes a determinedobject or a determined portion of a determined person, wherein thedetermined object or the determined person is present in the secondspace.
 5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the determinedportion of the determined person includes a face, eyes, or a whole bodyof the determined person.
 6. The system according to claim 1, whereinthe start point information is a position of eyes of a first person inthe first space and the end point information is a position of a firstproduct from among products intended to be viewed by a second person inthe second space, wherein the CPU is further configured to: control thespecified region to be in the light transmission state; and configuredto control regions of the first plurality of regions other than thespecified region to be in the light shielding state.
 7. The systemaccording to claim 6, wherein the CPU is further configured to:determine a sex of the first person in the first space; and determine atarget sex that is a sex of a target person for the first product in thesecond space, wherein the start point information is the position of theeyes of the first person in the first space and the end pointinformation is a position of a second product among the productsintended to be viewed by the second person in the second space in whichthe sex of the first person corresponds with the target sex of the firstproduct.
 8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the start pointinformation is a position of a target unintended to be exposed tosunlight in the first space and the end point information is a positionof a light source of the sunlight from the second space, wherein basedon a light source of the specified optical path being the sunlight, theCPU is further configured to regard the sunlight as parallel light raysand specify the optical path, using the sunlight as the light source andthe start point information, and wherein the CPU is further configuredto control the specified region to be in the light transmission stateand control regions of the first plurality of regions other than thespecified region to be in the light shielding state.
 9. The systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the CPU is further configured to projectan image onto a region controlled to be in the light shielding state,wherein the image is projected for each of the first plurality ofregions.
 10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the CPU is furtherconfigured to project the image that includes a message onto the regioncontrolled to be in the light shielding state, wherein the image isprojected for each of the first plurality of regions.
 11. The systemaccording to claim 9, further comprising a third image sensor configuredto capture a third image when each region of the light shielding wall isin the light transmission state in the first space, wherein the CPU isfurther configured to: generate an interpolated image of the regioncontrolled to be in the light shielding state by the CPU based on thecaptured third image; and project the interpolated image onto the regioncontrolled to be in the light shielding state, wherein the interpolatedimage is projected for each of the first plurality of regions.
 12. Thesystem according to claim 1, wherein the CPU is further configured to:specify a plurality of determined optical paths to be passed through thelight shielding wall; specify a second plurality of regions on the lightshielding wall, wherein the second plurality of regions correspond topositions at which the plurality of determined optical paths passthrough the light shielding wall; and control a light transmission stateor a light shielding state for the second plurality of regions on thelight shielding wall based on information about the specified region.13. A method for shielding light, comprising: in a light shieldingdevice provided with a light shielding wall that includes a plurality ofregions, wherein the light shielding wall is set between a first spaceand a second space, wherein the plurality of regions are controllable inat least one of a light transmission state in which light is transmittedor a light shielding state in which light is shielded, specifying astart point information indicative of a point in the first space fromwhich an optical path passes through the light shielding wall and an endpoint information indicative of a point in the second space to which theoptical path has passed through the light shielding wall; specifying theoptical path based on the start point information and the end pointinformation; specifying a region in the plurality of regions of thelight shielding wall, wherein the specified region corresponds to aposition at which the specified optical path passes through the lightshielding wall; and controlling the light transmission state or thelight shielding state for at least one region in the plurality ofregions of the light shielding wall based on information about thespecified region.
 14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium havingstored thereon computer-executable instructions, when executed by acomputer, cause the computer to execute operations, comprising:specifying a start point information indicative of a point in a firstspace from which an optical path passes through a light shielding walland an end point information indicative of a point in a second space towhich the optical path ha passes through the light shielding wall;specifying the optical path based on the start point information and theend point information; specifying a region in a plurality of regions ofthe light shielding wall, wherein the specified region corresponds to aposition at which the specified optical path passes through the lightshielding wall; and controlling at least one of a light transmissionstate or a light shielding state for at least one region in theplurality of regions of the light shielding wall based on informationabout the specified region.